


Cobalt

by Spidermunkee



Category: D.Gray-man, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: But nice to Lenalee, F/M, Gen, Harry Potter Thinks Draco Malfoy is Up to Something, Harry Potter is Not a Horcrux, Kanda is grumpy, Lenalee is a powerhouse, Winky Face, and scary, as always, at least to the finders, guess you'll find out, the finders are wimps, then they aren't so bad, until things get interesting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-08 00:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14682585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spidermunkee/pseuds/Spidermunkee
Summary: Kanda and Lenalee are pretending to be the fourth school for the "Triwizard" tournament, and are charged with protecting the school by Dumbledore. However there is an ulterior motive: Komui believes there to be Innocence stored somewhere in the school, and if they can find out what and where it is before the Noah do, things would get a lot easier for their side of the war. And oh, yeah, this Innocence might be the Heart. Hope that Potter kid doesn't get in the way.





	Cobalt

**Author's Note:**

> Kanda and Lenalee embark on a year-long mission with four Finders that really don't quite like them.

The training room in the Black Order smelled of feet and sweat, and the hard tatami mats on the floor were peeling in spots most used. Torches and columns lined the dirty brick walls, casting flickering shadows in deep corners. An observation deck peered out into the room almost thirty feet up, and the ceiling was interspersed with rafters and inclined to a point that reached at least forty feet high, hidden in shadows.

Despite the unwelcome atmosphere, Lenalee Lee enjoyed entering the room in the very early morning, even before the sun decided to cup its joyful fingers over the gloomy castle-like building. If early enough, she could catch a glimpse of her childhood friend, Yuu Kanda, as he danced and sliced at the air in a mock battle. 

He was surly, and a jerk, but he tolerated her when she was acting needy, and always defended her when she couldn’t. In a way, his complete abhorrence for others only to be mildly irritated at her was more reassuring of his friendship than someone who was constantly nice. Not to say Allen wasn’t a very dear friend, if anyone was naming any names, but Kanda was just so honest in his dislike. It provided a refreshing assessment on the everyday life of being an Exorcist in an Order that liked to hide behind smiles and lies. 

Not to say she thought the Order was lying... 

Watching Yuu Kanda’s effortless dancing over the tatami mats, with barely a sound except for the slight whoosh of his blade through the air, Lenalee sat on the steps of the entranceway with a wistful breath over the steam of her tea. She sat Kanda’s cup next to her gently, the quiet clink of the ceramic on the stone the only noise to bring attention to her.. 

Kanda’s light footsteps danced to a slow stop, and she eyed his form as he completed some after workout stretches, his hair piled on top of his head in an intricate style that Lenalee taught him a couple of years prior. Kanda didn’t even look at her as he stalked her way, sitting next to her and snagging his own cup from the ground to down it in one gulp. It reminded her of Allen - only much more aggressive - but she knew better than to mention Allen to Kanda, especially this early in the morning.

“We have a mission in a month,” Lenalee finally said after a calm moment of silence. Though her voice was soft, it carried throughout the training room like an amphitheater stage. 

“We?”

“You and I and four Finders. It’s a year mission.”

There was a contemplative silence. 

“I put the papers on your bed,” she continued when it seemed he was too stunned to speak. 

Kanda grunted and leaned back on his hands. “Why a year?” he grumbled.

“It’s for a school.” She smiled when his nose wrinkled in distaste. “Yes, children. No, you can’t get out of it.”

“Why us?” he decided to ask instead.

“We’re Asian,” she said dryly, and he snorted. “Apparently it’s because we are going to pretend to be a fourth school in a tournament, though we are really going to guard the school, and rumors of Innocence, against the Noah.”

“Rumors?” he frowned. “Innocence hasn’t been spotted?”

“It’s all in the papers,” Lenalee waved off, amused. She shifted to sit behind him cross legged, and pulled the bow in his hair loose to unravel the braid. When his hair was loose, she combed her fingers through it despite the sweat gathered at his temples, and his frame seemed to relax minutely as her fingernails raked across his scalp. 

The first time she played with his hair, when she was eleven, it had been after a particularly nasty try at synchronizing with her Innocence and she needed a bit of cheering up. It was awkward at first, but Kanda started relaxing and Lenalee started feeling calmer herself. Now, whenever either of them had to calm down from any intense emotions, they found the other and went through this same routine. 

“Along with the papers are books,” she continued after a long moment, fingers still carding through his hair and over his neck and shoulders. His silence seemed contemplative. “My brother wants us to read them by the time we leave to start the mission. There’s ten in all, textbook size.”

Kanda let out a deep breath and relaxed backwards, head hanging to eye her upside down. She giggled at him and ran her fingers through his bangs, ignoring his glare at her playfulness, before sitting up and grabbing their teacups. He stood with her and walked with her back to his room, bare feet barely whispering across the cobbled floor.

She enjoyed early mornings in the training room, bad feet smell and all, if only because she could be with Kanda before all the chaos of the day.

 

..

They were taking four Finders with them, all of Asian descent. Lenalee wanted to be offended, but it was for a mission, so she couldn’t really complain. They were debriefed in the library after Lenalee rounded them all up to catch up with Kanda. 

When they found out Kanda was the team leader, one almost quit the Order right there and then.

“I am not risking my life only to be left behind by someone who doesn’t care about me!” he had yelled, and was only able to be talked down by Lenalee, who’s puppy eyes could bring even Kanda to his knees. Now, he sat tense across the table from Kanda who balefully ignored him, much to his relief.

The team finding out the school they were going to was magic, full of magic students and magic teachers, was more fun than Lenalee cared to admit. They were God’s apostles and used weapons that defied logic themselves, so it wasn’t too hard of a stretch to know there was magic in the world, but the Finders’ reactions made her day (mostly it was wide eyes and gaping mouths, but one of them, a woman named Katerina, sputtered incoherently.) 

Kanda’s reaction was typically nonexistent. 

They had a month to get ready to venture to this school, and Lenalee had a month to get all of her brother’s affairs in order so she didn’t have to worry about him being overloaded during the year she would be gone. She wasn’t really looking forward to all of the coffee she would have to order.

 

…

Over the course of the next month, Lenalee and Kanda were swamped in paperwork. They had textbooks on all subjects being taught at the school, but more often than not there were references to other textbooks in the ones they were reading. After finishing them all and still feeling unprepared, Kanda ended up making a list of more textbooks to be sent to the school, in hopes of learning more. Lenalee wasn’t as surprised at Kanda’s willingness to learn more as the Finders were; as they walked down the halls she could hear them whispering incredulously that Kanda wanted to read more - apparently that made him seem scarier.

Those words reminded her of how intimidated the Finders were by her and her fellow Exorcists. It wasn’t hard to figure out why (they literally went up against bloated machines bent on killing as many people as they could hand to hand, while if a single shot hit a Finder they were disintegrated), but it was still a discouraging notion that the Finders didn’t trust or like them. 

She vowed to change that on this year long mission.

(She just hoped Kanda wouldn’t ruin it for her.)

…

“We’re taking a train ride for seven hours.” The deadpanned expression on Kanda’s face was enough to drive Lenalee to incoherent giggles. It wasn’t like they weren’t used to taking long journeys to get to specific destinations, but Kanda had expressed that he wanted this mission over with, and a seven hour train ride was not helping. 

“Well yes - you see,” here Komui pushed his glasses up his nose for a dramatic pause, “the train is actually going through a portal to the future.”

Another dramatic pause, in which Kanda’s deadpanned expression and Lenalee’s giggles persisted.

“I’m sure you’ve all looked through the briefing I gave you,” Komui said pointedly after clearing his throat, and a Finder to the left of Lenalee, Akira, tentatively nodded. “Well this school is in the future - a time where magic reigns and Akuma are distant thoughts. However there has been an outcropping threatening this school, and a powerful wizard by the name of Albus Dumbledore (he’s in the briefing) has bent a few rules and is providing a safe way for us to send some help. Plus, the Innocence this school must be guarding could be a sure chance of being the Heart, so I’d like to have some information on locations and history, which will be the Finders’ jobs.” Komui clapped his hands once. “Now, time to board the train!” 

Lenalee inhaled sharply and turned on her heel, Kanda close behind. “If this turns out to be a prank…” she heard him grumble, and she couldn’t help but agree. This seemed too surreal to be true, no matter how much she had seen in her short life. But it was too elaborate, and her brother wouldn’t just send them out on a wild goose chase. 

“It might not be magic, but we’ll find something,” Lenalee said over her shoulder, giving Kanda a bright smile. He just sneered at her and she giggled. 

…

The train ride was as boring as all the others she had ever been on, but this one had a bit of a surprise about four hours in. Knowing that you were going to the future but experiencing going to the future were two completely different things. About halfway through, the air seemed to press in on all sides, and to Lenalee it felt like she was struggling to breathe at the higher atmospheres she could climb to. A moment later and the pressure was gone, but when she blinked the entire cabin on the train seemed to age. Dust gathered in the corners and wooden planks were broken down, and she could see the tracks passing by underneath her. 

The wind from all the open holes blew her hair in her face, and when she pushed it away Kanda was there, glowering. She smiled in greeting.

“I guess we’ll just have to deal with this for three more hours,” she yelled to him, but he just grunted and sat across from her. It was sweet, how he felt the need to check on her. Not that she’d ever tell him that.

The rest of the train ride passed uneventful, and Lenalee amused herself by imagining all of the Finders huddled close together and staring frightfully at a big hole in the middle of their cabin floor. 

When the train finally rumbled to a stop, Lenalee stood and stretched her legs out, smiling at Kanda in gratitude when he grabbed both of their bags. “What do you think to expect?” she asked him instead of thanking him. Thanking him in words would just make him embarrassed, and he’d be sulky until he had some food. 

“An old man with a sparkling personality,” he groused, and Lenalee paused on the steps to consider that. 

“Seems likely,” she mused, and continued to the train station. The station looked just as old as the train, with a caved in roof and rusty wooden two-by-fours. Dust and cobwebs seemed to cover every inch, and grass and plants grew out of innocuous places. “What a charming place this used to be,” she murmured, thinking back to bustling people and shiny marble.

“It was always a dump,” Kanda scoffed, just as the five Finders joined them. 

“Have a nice ride?” Lenalee asked the nearest girl, Dai. Dai smiled at her nervously.

“It could have been better,” she said, and Lenalee giggled at her understatement. 

“Hello,” a kind voice called out, and Lenalee spun to see an old man with long periwinkle robes dotted with stars, and a matching pointy hat atop his aged head. 

“Hello,” Lenalee parroted back, hands clasped behind her back. The old man drew closer, and Lenalee could tell he had a mad stroke of genius in his head if those twinkling eyes had any say. Mentally she thought to congratulate Kanda for his correct assumption.

“I believe you all are the Exorcists I’ve requested?” 

One of the Finders raised his hand - “We’re not Exorcists, sir, the two in the red adornments are. The five of us are Finders: we locate and track Innocence and scout areas where Akuma reside. We contact the Order for Innocence and heavy Akuma ratings, and they send out an Exorcist, like Ms. Lee and Mr. Kanda here, to get the Innocence to safety.”

Lenalee gave a bright smile when Dumbledore’s eyes settled on her. She knew what he was thinking: a little girl like her? A destroyer of monsters? Proving him wrong was going to be fun. 

“I see. I understand you are the best the Black Order could send in such a short notice?”

“Short notice,” Lenalee heard Kanda mutter behind her, and she stepped backwards onto his foot. A quiet grunt met her ears, and Dai gave a small shudder. 

“Yes, sir. You don’t have to worry about any Akuma when we’re here. We’ll take care of it.” Lenalee gave him her biggest and brightest smile. She knew he was still skeptical, but this was all she could do until they encountered an Akuma. She hoped they never had to deal with an Akuma on this mission, but that was wishful hoping, especially if the Innocence they were dealing with was the Heart. 

“I have faith in your abilities. For now, will you follow me to the train?” Albus turned and started walking into the building, and after trading a glance with Kanda and sparing a look at the nervous Finders, Lenalee shrugged and scampered after him. 

As they passed through the door, it was like stepping into a new world. Everything was bright and new, and there were no ticket stands made of wood, but instead a painted brick, with shiny metal speakers. People buzzed in and out, some talking on a strange device (probably a communication device, like Kanda and Lenalee’s earpieces) and all dressed in some form of pants and frilly skirts like Lenalee’s. It was strange to see the different clothing - all bright and colorful or dark blacks and greys. It seemed brown was a color extinct. 

Walking through the lines of people was a bit of a trial. Lenalee was used to being stared at; she was an Exorcist, most people held a healthy fear and awe of her. But this was different - people watched her with incredulous expressions, wondering and curious, and even some disgusted. She noticed they stared at Kanda with fear, and she saw eyes gravitating towards his sword. That made sense, she supposed, but were weapons so seldom that seeing one sheathed inspired such fear? Lenalee was afraid of the answer. 

“I’m afraid you have another long train ride ahead of you,” Albus said as they passed people by. “This will be your first assignment. With everything that has been happening, I’m afraid there will be an attack on the train carrying the students. I would like for you to make sure they arrive safe.”

“Sir,” Lenalee started with a frown, “If what we suspect is true, the Innocence causing the Akuma to be attracted to the school is, in fact, in the school. Akuma should have no need to attack the train.”

“Let us just amount this to an old man’s paranoia, then,” Albus responded cordially, with a twinkle in his eye as he glanced back at her. Abruptly he stopped in front of a stone pillar, in between stations nine and ten. “If you all would follow me.” 

Smiling genially, he stepped up to the stone pillar, rested his hand against the wall -

“What?” Dia squeaked, and Lenalee heard faint murmurs of shock from the other Finders. Lenalee felt inclined to share their sentiments, but years of professionalism held her from exclaiming and only letting out a soft exhale. 

Kanda scoffed at them all, stepping forward to walk through the wall still carrying Lenalee’s and his packs with an air of nonchalance. Lenalee giggled at the Finders and followed, bouncing through the wall like stepping through a waterfall. 

“Wow,” she breathed when she stepped through. It was like a whole new station. The people here barely passed her a glance, all focused on saying tearful goodbyes and getting onto the brightest train she had ever seen. 

“The red looks nice,” Dia murmured beside her, and Lenalee smiled at her. 

“It does,” she agreed, and while Dia was stunned, she still gave Lenalee a tentative smile back. 

“Dia,” Akira hissed, and Dia jumped, scurrying away from Lenalee to stand beside the man. Lenalee felt disappointment run through her but was succinctly distracted when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind.

Whirling, she reached for whoever’s wrist, but there was an almighty sigh that sounded distinctly familiar. “Kanda?” she asked, and at his annoyed tsk, finished the spin and whacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t do that,” she scolded. 

“Let’s go,” he said instead of apologizing, but he released her and walked away with a slight nod in her direction, letting her know she’d been heard. 

“Scary,” she heard whispered behind her.

“He’s actually really sweet, in a moody kind of way,” she defended. Smiling, she asked, “Should we catch up?”

She failed to hear Akira whisper, “I wasn’t talking about him…”

The train was quite big, but held separate cabins instead of a bunch of seats. Lenalee chalked that up to cutting down the crazy that was bound to happen with a bunch of kids loaded up. She didn’t imagine there were usually adults that rode with them, which was weird, but seemed to work okay. 

The stares as they boarded the train were three times as bad as the ones they got when they first entered the building - most likely because they were kids, gawking and pointing and whispering. Unsurprisingly, for kids were more resilient than adults, there was no fear in the air, just pure curiosity.

Their uniforms did stand out comically - all shiny leather and red decor, and the Finders’ unceremonious brown cloaks, hoods drawn. It was a rather large contrast to the varieties of clothing, and Lenalee couldn’t really blame them for staring. She would.

However Kanda didn’t seem to care how much he stood out be a reason for staring, for he glared at everyone who dared to look into his eyes. Kanda gets annoyed so easily, Lenalee thought fondly, darting into the first empty compartment they had seen, settling in across from the irate man. 

“Let’s hope this ride is interesting,” she said, glancing out the window to watch the families saying goodbye to their children.

“Hrn.” Kanda settled his elbow on the windowsill to prop his chin onto his fist and closed his eyes. Lenalee didn’t blame him, it was bound to be a long ride.

…

If only Lenalee knew.


End file.
